"I've learned so much from my mistakes, I think I'll make more" is a popular phrase that has appeared on many memes, tweets, timelines and even things like magnets, pins, and other items we can purchase. This seemingly harmless saying is actually very harmful. Most of us have read it someplace, and often, our initial response is to laugh, feel better about the genuine mistakes we've made and sadly, even the purposeful sins we've committed against our holy, kind, and gracious Father God. This is where it gets dangerous.

Do we all make mistakes? Absolutely! To err is human, right? Unfortunately, to sin is human too. And we all do it more than we'd like to admit...unless of course, a flighty little phrase like this one comes along and feeds our flesh the lies it desires—we can excuse our sins without repentance—and without a Savior.

We continually come up with new ways to make ourselves and others feel better about our sins rather than do what God says; repent. We say things like, "No one's perfect", "God knows my heart", "I'll ask for forgiveness later", and my all time least favorite, "Oh, no need to ask for forgiveness, we all do ______." That last one makes us all sound so holy and full of grace and mercy, doesn't it? But it's not holy, gracious or merciful. It's just our old, sin-filled, depraved heart and mind excusing the sin of others so we feel justified when we do the same.

I can't tell you how many times I've repented and asked for forgiveness for gossiping, being unkind, being thoughtless, responding in pride, being self-centered and...well, you get the picture (Rom 7:21-24). Most times, rather than receive the forgiveness I've requested, I get "No need to ask for forgiveness, this is a time for grace." What?! That's not grace, that's excusing my sin. And trust me, I don't need help making excuses for my sins. I'm already good at that. What I need is encouragement not to sin and not to make excuses when I do, but repent to God, then to those who've been injured by my sin. What I need is accountability. And that's what you need too.

Do we need to repent for mistakes? No, because mistakes aren't sins. For example, if I misquote someone because I remembered something incorrectly or give you wrong directions because I forgot to include a necessary turn, I'm not sinning, I'm simply human and can't do anything "perfectly". However, if I misquote someone on purpose, adding or subtracting what they said and adding my own twist in order to make my point, then that's manipulation (which is a sin). If I purposefully give you the wrong directions so you're late because I know it'll make you look or feel bad, that's a sin. Sometimes discerning what is and isn't a sin can be difficult for onlookers, but it's not for God and shouldn't be for those who are examining their hearts in the light of God's Word.

Motives (which can't be seen) often distinguish between sins and honest mistakes. But gossiping, being unkind, thoughtlessness, responding in pride and being self-centered are obvious sins many of us entertain, and excuse in others; as well as ourselves.

Repentance is a gift from God that leads the lost to saving faith, and provides continual sanctification for the saints, yet, much like unbelievers, we children of God, still find repentance repulsive. We call evil good and good evil when we accuse someone of being judgmental and unloving when they love us enough to pierce our sin-filled flesh with the Word of God and shine His brilliant light on our sins.

The most unfortunate part about our lack of desire to bear the fruit of repentance is that we keep ourselves from the peaceful fruit of righteousness that God works in all who are trained by His loving discipline. Since we can freely come to God confident He will forgive our sins (Heb 4:16), knowing we will possibly be disciplined but not punished (Heb 12:10, 1 Jn 4:18); why don't we daily, carry our crosses like Jesus commanded and kill the sin in our flesh?

Scripture art by: Biblescreen.com

The LORD God Almighty, Creator of the heavens and the earth—is personal. He could've left us to our sinful natures, miserable, lost and debased. But He didn't. He could've chosen to save us from afar in an impersonal way by zapping us with a lightening rod from the heavens. But He didn't. He could've done so many things us human beings would consider, or even actually do. So let us thank God; that He didn't.

Because God is holy (set apart), He did what only He can do and what He alone is willing to do with no external prodding (as if anyone could "prod" God to do anything). He chose to create, in His own image; human beings. Unlike any other creation, people alone, are His image-bearers. We alone have the ability to reason, to consider things, understand cause and effect, acknowledge our own existence (i.e., animals look in the mirror and think it's another animal, people know it's their own reflection). As God's image-bearers, He has given us emotions, a desire for truth and intimate relationships. He's given every human being a conscience whereby we distinguish between good and evil.

But too often in any religion, whether false religion (i.e., Self, Mormonism, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc.) or true religion (Christianity), we're all prone to the sin of wanting to appear as if we have it all together. We're all proud and boastful, whether overtly or covertly. The only truly humble person who's walked this earth is Jesus Christ the Lord. And only those who abide in Him through faith in His perfectly finished work of salvation can walk as He walked, and only by the power of His Holy Spirit.

Therefore, Jesus alone can rightly act as if He has it all together, because He's the only one that really does. His actions aren't merely premeditated drama to make us think He's a certain way. Jesus' actions are real and true so that we can know with certainty that He is that way. Every way He presents Himself is who He really is. There is no pretense with Christ and there should be none with the those who profess His name.

Rather than deal with us from afar, rather than rescue us in an impersonal and anonymous, unknowable manner, God came in the flesh—in the Person of Jesus Christ, the only Savior for all mankind. God the Father touched all humanity through His Son's physical body. His Son touched our lives by living as one of us, feeling what we felt, struggling as we struggled and living as we live, but was without sin. His Holy Spirit touches our souls by indwelling the spirits of those who repent and trust in the only Son of God. Yet, we refuse to be personal and often shrink back from touching others. Oh, I don't mean the acquaintance like hugs and salutations we exchange. I mean the real life touches that binds hearts and lives. These "touches" aren't always physical, but they always warm and penetrate the soul.

We don't "touch" others, because we're afraid they may have "warts" we don't want to see or deal with. We don't want them to get too close and touch us either, because they may see beyond our plastic and refined religious exterior, and gasp at our warts. Just like we would judgmentally gasp at theirs.

"The truths of God are never meant to be distant theories we abstractly ponder in our ivory towers, but rather truths that find us in real-life pits of despair and dark alleyways and lead us home again. May we never settle for simply 'knowing' that God is strong, but may His strength find us in our weakness."

~The Verses Project, on Psalm 118:13-14

God made Himself known to us in an extraordinary manner—God becoming an ordinary man, so that as His image-bearers, we might make our ordinary selves known to others so that they might see the work of our extraordinary God in us. You see, only when we are willing to be real, only when we are willing to boast (that is, speaking at length) about our weaknesses (2 Cor 12:9-10) can anyone see how extraordinary, how awesome, and unlike us, our Lord truly is. It's difficult to distinguish or grasp the true beauty of a treasure if it's surrounded by fake polished gold. But it's not difficult for anyone to see treasure in the midst of a dunghill.

God is real. God is personal. And as His beloved children, we ought to be too.

"And His mercy is for those who fear Him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty."

~Luke 1:50-53

What does it mean, to give thanks in all circumstances?

In First Thessalonians chapter five, the Apostle Paul closes with a list of things that every Christian ought to do (vv. 12-22), but can't do in our own strength or by our own sheer will. Perhaps we can accomplish some, or all that's on this list, but it would only be a temporary appearance of godly character rather than a faithful and continual walk. For we know if we do not abide in Christ, we will not bear His fruit. And any true godly quality we exhibit is a demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit within us (1 Cor 2:5), not from our flesh that continually desires the ways of this world.

I often refer to my physical trials as a gift from the Lord and something He has seen fit to work in my life for my greatest benefit. And often, I get questions and comments from people who are outraged by my proclamation that a good and loving God would bring pain into my life. They tell me I'm rather foolish and audacious to claim God would do anything besides make me healthy, wealthy and happy. But that's not what God says.

"For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though He cause grief, He will have compassion according to the abundance of His steadfast love; for He does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men."

~Lamentations 3:31-33 (ESV)

In Psalm 119 verses 67 and 71, the psalmist sees the good purposes of afflictions in this life: they keep us from going astray and give us deeper understanding and appreciation for God's holy statutes. The writer of Hebrews also echos this in chapter 12 when he talks about God's loving and faithful discipline, which is painful at the time, but for those who endure and are trained by it, they will yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

~Romans 5:1-5 (ESV)

Wow! Who doesn't want to build endurance, character and hope? Everyone, both believers and non-believers aspire to such a high and noble stature, but this can only be obtained by divine providence; by the power of God's Holy Spirit that indwells the children of the Most High God.

I would be lying if I didn't admit the hardships of these 10 years, with the past five encumbered by many hospital admits, five surgeries, countless procedures and tests, and the acquisition of more specialists than there are colors in the rainbow. Constant physical pain, and I mean pain on the scale from 5 - 10 on good days, every day, non-stop (up until recently) has really worn on me. It was always something, one thing after another. I was either tearing a muscle, a tendon, or an organ wasn't working right or my blood work was out of whack...again. It was a constant dance for my doctors to try to figure out what would help me without causing something else in my highly precarious system to malfunction.

And I'm supposed to be grateful for this? Yes!

"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the thing that are unseen are eternal."

~2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (ESV)

Did you hear that? Did you hear what our heavenly Father said here? He said that He makes even the most agonizing and grievous things in this life work for our benefit! So then, if God uses even the "bad" experiences to work for our greater good, then the question is, why is suffering a bad thing if it's working good in us and for us—for this life and the one to come?

If this doesn't give you reason to be grateful for whatever you may be suffering today, consider Hebrews 5:7-8, "In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence. Although He was a son, He learned obedience through what He suffered." We are not greater than Jesus (Lk 6:40), so if He "learned obedience through what He suffered" how much more will we learn? Besides that, let's do a reality check here. Jesus didn't deserve one iota of suffering, but we deserve more suffering than we will ever know because God poured out His wrath on His Son instead of us.

In view of this awesome mercy and grace from God, we should rejoice in the freedom of our salvation and give thanks to God in all and for all circumstances. Our circumstances don't determine our joy; Jesus does, and He's already sealed it by giving us His Holy Spirit.

"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid...I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world."

~John 14:27, 16:33 (ESV)

P.S. I almost forgot. For those who've been praying and have asked about my heart issues; the meds are working and I'm doing well. Thank you for your prayers and thank you for asking! ♥